Hosbert m



N. M. LA FORTE.

CIRCULAHNG SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FIL'ED DEC. 3. 1911.

Patented July 15, 1919.

NORBEB-T M. LA'PORTE, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

I orncu'ne'rrne SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Application filed December 3, 1917. SeriaI No. 205,137.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, NORBERT M, LA Pon'rn, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in the city of Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Circulating Systems, of which the following is a specification. 7 v

The circulation of the cooling water through the jacket and radiator of internal combustion engines by means of a portion of the exhaust injected into the connection between the bottom of the radiator and the water jacket and turned in the direction of thermosiphonic circulation whereby the air lift effect and the impulse ,due to the velocity and pressure of the exhaust areadded to the thermosiphonic tendency, increasing the circulation'as the exhaust'pressure and ve-. locity increase, and hence, with the, increase of the heat generated and the work done, has acquired a fixed status in the'art', the same being fully illustrated in applicants prior patents and embodied in commercial. apparatus which is widely sold for use on automobile engines, truck engines, engines used with truck attachments and with farm tractors and tractor attachments.

.The present invention relates to an improvement and refinement of the commercial form of that device whereby it is made more absolutel failure-proof andautomatic than hitherto ore, the previous-apparatus having been satisfactory and commercially successful as demonstrated by wide sales anduse. f

In all such apparatus, it is found essen tial to have some means for preventing backflow of the water from the circulating system into the exhaust- This cannotbe done in an effective manner by elevating the pipe as the level of the water in the system changes with the position of the car inclimbing and descending'hills; also rocln'ng of the engine in starting and stoppin seems to set up a vacuum in the exhaust, 0th of which conditions, in the absence. of such means for preventing backflow, start a" small siphon with the result that alarge'part-off the cooling water passes over intothe ex The apparatus now In use consists-of a as tube leadin from the exhaust,

prefera 1y from-the ex aust manifold, to a nozzle in the lower radiator connection turned upward toward-the water jacket, the water pipe or connection bein preferably reduced at this point to obtain the maximum effect of the exhaust gases. A non-return valve in the form of a ball valve opening in the direction of the exhaust, pressure, has

' been placed in the gas tube at or immediately 1 adjacent the point where the exhaust is taken from the manifold where it is exposed to the temperature of the exhaust and tosome carbon deposit. It has happened occasionally, though infrequently, that the ball does not seat owing to heating, clogging with carbon, and the like, and under these circumstances, it'interferes with the flow of the gas and may permit siphoning of the water. This is a difficulty which is more Patented July is, 1919. i

importantto the manufacturers and venders v of the device as a matter of the reputation of the product on account of occasional failure, than it is to the consumer to whom "the difficulty, which may occur once in' several thousand miles, is

of slight importance.

In order to produce a device the failure. of

which is wholly impossible, I have placed a device [for preventing backflow of the water in the gas tube at a point where it cannot be afiected by heat or carbon. In the preferred form of the apparatus, I make the gas tube in the form of an S leading it upward from the exhaust to provide for the old non-return valve, and downward beneath the lower water connection and then upward entering the connection from below and leading to the nozzle which is turned in theldirection of the -thernmosiphonic flow as already stated, placing a second non-return valve opening upward in the'direction of exhaust pressure and seated by gravity against the backflow of the'Water in the vertical portion of the as tube at or near the point where itenters t e lower radiator connection. This valve being immediately adjacent and connected tothe' cool portion of the water circulation near the bottom of the radiator, is cool at all times and is in no wise subject to heat of the exhaustwhich is almost entirely cooled in passing through the gas tube, and further, it is 'not'subject to cordance with my invention in its preferred form, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of an engine with the radiator and connections equipped with a circulator constructed in accordance with the invention, certain parts of the hood, cowl and dash being cut away for convenience of illustration;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view illustrating the bottom valve, nozzle and the adjacentportions of the radiator connection, the valve' being shown in section; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view illustrating the top valve and so forth. I I

Referring to the drawings by numerals, the illustration includes the usual internal combustion motor used in driving automobiles, trucks and a good many tractors and tractor attachments.- This is indicated by the engine cylinder casting 1, the combustion chambers having a water jacket 2. In front of the engine is a radiator 3 with top connection 4 and bottom connection 5 providing for thermosiphonic circulation, that is, there are two parallel vertical columns of water, one in the lower connection 5, the jacket 2 and top connection 4, and the othenin the radiator 3. The column in the radiator is subject to a draft of fresh air and is therefore cooled and"in its cool condition it is contracted, therefore of greater specific gravity. It displaces the vertical column in the connections and water jacket which, particularly in the water jacket and top connection, is hot, expanded and of less specific gravity.

The circulator consists in means in the form of a tube 6 for leading a portion of the exhaust gases from the exhaust outlet 7 to a nozzle 8 in the bottom radiator connection, the same being turned upward, applying the exhaust pressure and velocity and also the air lift, resulting from the mixture of the exhaust gas with the water, to the circulating system in the direction of the thermosiphonic circulation and adding it to the thermosiphonic efi'ect. This means or gas tube 6, in the form of the invention shown, is

bent in an S shape so that it leads upward vertically from the exhaust manifold, then downward to a point beneath the lower radiator connection and upward from beneath into the radiator connection, terminating in the nozzle 8 turned in the direction of thermosiphonic circulation as already stated.

This shape of tube is adopted in the form of the invention shown in order to utilize the most convenient form of non-return valve which is the gravity seated ball valve. As in the old form of the invention, there is preferably a non-return valve 9, see Fig. 3, at the point where the gas tube 6 lifts the exhaust. This ball, as in any gravity ball valve, lifts upward in opening, 2'. e., in the direction of exhaust pressure. This valve is subject to some heating eifect and might occasionally stick interfering with the operation of the device and permitting siphoning of the water into the exhaust. To prevent this latter'eflect under any and all conditions and to make the apparatus absolutely certain and permanent in its life and regular in its operation, eliminating all possibility of failure, I have added a second nonreturn valve 10 beneath the lower radiator .and there is very little chance at this point for carbon deposit. When the engine is not operating this valve is closed and held closed by the water in the system so that it is kept entirely out of the gas tube 6 leaving the same free for the influx of gas. Immediately the exhaust pressure, and therefore the heat generated, become sufficient to make circulation in addition to the thermosiphonic action desirable. Ordinarily this is not until the engine is warmed up to some extent and is actually pulling a load.

In connection with the present device, I have developed a connection and non-return valve particularly adapted to this system, that is, T have made the nozzle in the form of an elbow 11 threaded at its end at 12. On this I have threaded a lock nut 13 and 'the enlarged end of a fitting 14 containing an upwardly disposed valve seat 15. This fitting is shouldered and reduced at its lower end at 16. The lower end is threaded and on this thread is a union. 17 shouldered at the opposite end from the thread to engage the lip 18 of the brass tube 19. The nonreturn valve 8 consists of a tubular plu 21 which screws into the top of the mani old, being threaded at its lower end at 22 and having atits upper end a seat 23 for the ball valve 24. The upper end of the plu 21 is reduced and threaded at 25 around t e seat and this is inclosed by a valve chamber fitting 26 which is reduced and threaded at its upper end to receive a coupling 27 like the coupling 18. In the plug member 21, in order to regulate the flow of gas and hence the activity of the circulator, I have provided a set screw 28 which works in a threaded opening 29 transverse to the channel of the plug and has a lock nut 30 to hold it in adjusted position. By turning this screw 28, the size of the channel for the escaping gas is conveniently regulated. By this regulation the exact degree of circulation required is obtained, the engine being first throttled down and then s eeded up and the screw adjusted to give su ient circulation in the throttled position and prevent blowing out of the water at a fixed level'in the open position.

While I have referred throughout to a system arranged to give thermosiphonic circulation, I desire to have it understood that the apparatus described may be applied to any system including a radiator, and a water jacketed engine with top and bottom connections between the radiator and the water jacket.

Any type of non-return valves may of course be used and their position and location varied to a considerable extent within the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a circulating system for internal combustion engines including a radiator, a water jacket, and top and bottom connections arranged to give thermosiphonio circulation, a nozzle in the lower radiator connection turned in the direction of thermosiphonic circulation, a gas tube leading from the exhaust to said nozzle, and a gravity actuated non-return valve near the lower radiator connection so that it is subject to the cooling influence of the cold water from the radiator.

2. In a circulating system for internal combustion engines including a radiator, a water jacket, and top and bottom connections arranged to give thermosiphonic circulation, an S-shaped tube leading upward from the exhaust and having a gravity actuated non-return valve near the exhaust, the tube then leading downward below the lower radiator connection and having a substantially vertical portion leading toward the nozzle, and a gravity-actuate non-return valve in said substantially vertical por tion.

3. In a circulating system for internal combustion engines having a radiator, a water jacket, and top and bottom connections between the radiator and the water jacket arranged to give thermosiphonic circulation, a nozzle turned in the direction of thermosiphonic circulation, a passage leading from the exhaust to the nozzle, and a set screw transverse to the passage to adjust the capacity of the circulator.

4. In a circulating system for internal combustion engines, a radiator, a water jacket, and top and bottom connections between the radiator and water jacket, arranged to give thermosiphonic circulation, a nozzle in the water near the bottom of the system turned in the direction of thermosi phonic circulation, a passage leading from the exhaust to the nozzle, a set screw transverse to the passage to adjust the capacity of the circulator, and two non-return valves in the gas pipe, one being near the nozzle where the temperature is influenced by the cooled water from the bottom of the radiator.

Signed by me at Baltimore, Maryland, this 30th day of October, 1917.

NORBERT M. LA PORTE.

Witnesses:

H. G. EATON, EDWIN F. SAMUELS. 

